by rdale » Fri Apr 01, 2005 10:06 pm
My take on weak kicker aces in short handed NL cash games, most of what you read about short handed and aces applies to limit poker. That whole 50/50 he has a better Ace thing goes right out against a normal opponent in a short handed NL game, compared to limit. AT-AK is a very real possibility with a screaming raise preflop. That isn't to say that he has a hand like 99-KK but 99-KK isn't going to call your all in re-raise either unless they are truly miserable players, I often see medium pairs played for way too big of raises as scared bets. If I read this hand history correctly with as deep of stacks as both players had, auto-pushing is a quick way to get broke or rich, which is what I tease my opponents about whether they hit or miss. I have one particular opponent that auto-pushes nut draws no kicker, that over the course of a year has lost thousands to me pushing with draws like this in raised pots, and won only a couple of hundred. 3:1 dog against an opponent not able to lay down top pair top kicker isn't the seat you want to be in, these are the guys you show two pair or a set too and bust. That guy has actually called me a moron for calling his no pair draw hands that he pushed all in on the flop, but he so consistently has shown me a draw that I'm willing to gamble it up with him with top pair top kicker. If you are going to push a draw that hard against top pair top kicker it should be open ended with flush or something similiar, and even then I don't like tossing around big stacks on coinflips.
The point of modern NL to me isn't to shovle so much money at the guy so that he will fold and if he calls you can still suck out. Which isn't going to happen in a limited buy in game. But to look for areas where you are clearly ahead, and they are drawing slim to dead.
A cash game situation that I think autopush is right:
My position may change if you had a monster stack of near $250-$500 to his $100, and even more so if he has only $50 behind him. In that case taking the worse of it with outs while showing brutal aggression is either going to drag you a pot, or give your truly good hands that much more action when you do miss this time. The bigger the stack you have, the more the game becomes pressure on the opponent at all times, the more willing I become to gamble it up to absorb the entire stack of another as well as show that I'm willing to play less than a made hand all in.
Back to your stack size, I think taking the draw at his price is the best play and if you hit your flush card pushing it all in makes more sense, even with the pair on the board. Many players will be unwilling to let go of KK or AK as it looks like you are bluffing the scare card.